Fly-killer.



L. ALLIS & A. R. WIENS.

FLY KILLER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1912.

Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

v a full, clear, and exact description thereof;-

object being to provide a simple, economi- LOUIS ALLIS AND ADOLPH FLY-KILLER, v

i Specification of Letters Patent n. WIENS, or MILWAUKEE, wrsconsmfsm wmus ASSIGNOR 'ro sm ALLIS. v

Application filed ma 20,1912. Serial No. 698,417. v

To all 'w homct may concern:

Be it known that .we, LoUIsALLIs and ADoLrH R. VVIENs, both citizens of the United States, and residentsof Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fly- Killers; and we do hereby declare that the following is Our invention refers to insect-killers, its

cal, efl'ective and compact device of this character, the same comprising a plurality s of-fiat, foldable fan-like strands, in the form of a brush which is provided with 'a hollow handle that constitutes a shield for the same when the strands or bristles are'folded, and when so folded the device assumes a compact form concealing the bristles, in which folded position said'device can be conveniently I carried about the person for use as-conditions may warrant. v e

At the upresent time science has demon strated that many of the infectious diseases are carried by the bite of insects such. as

, flies, mosquitos or the like and so far as we ,are aware while many forms of insect de-. stroyers have been devised the development of manually operated insect killers has been confined. to large, unwieldyhousehold articles, the size of which {precludes their use by individuals owing to the fact that such devices are too cumbersome to carry about. Our device'meets all the requirements of the general type but at the 'same tlme can becarried in the pocket for any emergency and is designed in suchattractive form that it readily appeals to the general public In carrying out our invention it is. ap-

parent that the generic-idea, to wit: a foldable" "device, can be inechanically accomplished in a variety of ways within the ..knowledge of those skilled in the art and "we therefore do not wish to be confined to any specific structural details. With this in view we have shown two forms of foldable devices, as mechanical examples of conveniently carrying out our invention, one

being telescopic and the-other foldable upon the jack-knife principle. 1

With the above object in viewour invention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts as fully set 'forth hereinafter with reference to'the -5, havin I the termlnal edge of the slot and bent down--' accompanying drawings and subsequently.

claimed. j

In thedrawings Figure 1 represents a Patented Mar. 1 8, 1 9 13. I

face view of a telescopic form of insect destroyer embodying the. features of our in- 4 vention, the same being shown with the brush or strands in their spread or open ositlon with parts broken away and parts in. section to more clearly illustrate cer- Y tain structural features; Fig. 2, a similar view of the same in its closed position ready to be conveniently dropped into a pocket or other receptacle; Fig. 3, a longitudinal sectional view of the device in its closed position,"the section being indicated by line" 3--'3 of-Fig; 2; Fig. 4, an enlarged detail cross-sectional view of our preferred form ofstrand separating and spreading means, theisection, being indicated by line 4-4: of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, .a cross-section of one form of manipulating slide, the section being indicated by line 5--5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6,- a

cross-section of anotlier form of manipulatmg slide; Fig. 7 a detailed longitudinal sectional view of still another form of -manipulating slide showing the same constructed from an offset tongue that is integral with thebrush carrying plug, and Fig. 8, a perspective-view of the same. Referring by characters to the drawings 1 represent-s a hollow handle which is constructed from a single piece of metal pressed: 'intube form, the longitudinal edges of which tube are spaced apart to form a slot 1" that extends from the point adjacent to the lower end of the handle to a point at a distance from the upper end,

. which upper end is flattened to, constitute a fan-like open mouthed head 2. The edges of the metal at the head are lapped asshown and secured together by a tongue 3, which tongue proj ects through a slot 4 in the upper lap, the tongue being inserted through the slot and thereafter bent down. The lower end of the handle slot terminates with abrupt shoulders, whereby the edges of the metal are brought together to form .a continuous lap over which is inserted a'confining ferrule a tongue 6 which is fitted over ward to form a. keeperfor said ferrule. Bythis construction it is apparent that the hollow handle is entirely confined b the slot and tongue .3, 4, at the upper en and the interlocked tongued ferrule at the lower end whereby soldering is dispensed with and cheapness in. the assemblage s effected.

A slidable hollow plug 7 is fitted into the hollow; handle, prior to the blank forming the handle being folded and this plug carries a plurality-of flexible strands 8, which strands are preferably formed fromwire loops, their free ends being pushedvthrough the end of the ferrule, while their looped ends are soldered thereto and thereafter the ferrule is flattened upon said strands so as to cause the latter to normally lie in a thin sheet, Aften'the strands are thus secured within the plug they are separated .into a plurality of "fan-like tufts 8 by the lnse'rtion ofa short coiled" section of wire 9, the

' loops of-which Wire thus serve as permanent oblique position.

separators and spreadersfor the plurality of tufts and owing to the spiral winding of the wire section, when the same is inserted upon the bristles," it will assume a sl ghtly 5 The coiled section of wire, constituting the separator and spreader, after being placed in position is, together with the plug and bristles, fitted into the open head of the handle member and there after said handle/member is folded in shape.

. WVhen so folded the separator and spreader is formed by the handle slot 1 same as best shown in Fig.3, whereby the slide rin and plug are permanently engaged. I y this connection the operator can readily manipulate the plug which is slid back and forth within the handle incidental to exposing the. bristles or folding the same within the head.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that when theplug is pushed toward the head, the spreading separator 9, will cause the tufts to slide between its confining close said device,

coils and this wedging action will thus open the tufts in a fan-like spread'as shown for use. The device can then beimanipulated for killing insects and when it is desired to it is only necessary to draw the plug downward,.whereby the free ends of the various tufts will be contracted as they travel down'within the hollow handle and Will finally be entirely concealed within the head as shown in Fig. 2: It will also be observed that there are no obstructions upon the exterior of the device which would cause the same to be caught in the clothing of the person carrying the same and that owing to the handle ranged to have the simple provision for spreading the tufts, friction in the operation of opening and closing is reduced to a minimum.

Fig. 6 illustrates another form of plug manipulating device wherein the plug 7 is provided with an aperture for the reception of a slide ring 11, which slide ring in this instance is formed by a looped band having inturned ends, that abut each other and project through the handle slot into the plug aperture whereby said band and plug are confined.

Fig. 7

illustrates still another form of plug and actuating mechanism therefor, in which. the plug manipulating slide ring is dispensed with. In this instance one wall of the plug is stamped out to form a loop 12 that has a central button portion 12' which projects through the slot 1 of the handle whereby said plug can be manipulated, this construction being particularly economical and in all respects as effective as that form of plug wherein a slide ring is attached thereto. 7

In some instances we .may, without departing from the spirit of our invention,

utilize the lower part of the handle for an eraser, pencil or penholder or like instrument, it being apparent that the same may, in some instances, be connected directly to the plug and manipulated so as to be exposed When the" bristles are concealed and it should also be understood that we may ,einploy any suitable material as a substitute for the wire strands shown and that the handle can also be constructed of various grades of material consistent with the requirements, and-furthermore while we have shown and .described a coiled wire section as a spreader,

that pins, teeth or similar articles may be utilized for separatin tufts without departin from the spirit 0 our invention.

e claim 1. An insect-killer comprising a hollow slotted handle having a flat head, a slidable plug mounted in the hollow handle, means for actuating the plug extending through slot, a plurality of strands ara fan-like spread extending from said plug, and separating and spreading means carried by the head engageable with the strands whereby the latter are divided into tufts.

- 2. An insect-killer'comprisin a hollow handle having a flattened fan-1i e head, a slidable plug mounted in the handle, a plurality of strands extending from the plug, their free ends being ada ted to spread into fan-like form when the p ug is moved in one direction and to contract within the head when the plug-is moved in the opposite direction, and means carried by said head for separating the strands into a plurality of tufts.

3. A telescopic insect-killer comprising a hollow handle having an open head, a slid- In testimonythat we claim the foregoing 10 able plug mounted in the handle having a We have hereunto set our hands at Milwauflattened end, and a plurality of strands exkee in the county of-Milwaukee and State of tending from the flattened end of the plug, Wisconsin inthe resence of two Witnesses.

their free ends being adapted to spread into 7 I OUIS'ALLIS.

fan-like form when the plug is moved in one v ADOLPH R. WIENS direction and to contract within the head Witnesses:

when the plug is moved in the opposite di- GEO. -W. YOUNG,

rection. M. E. Downer. 

